


Mirror

by procrastinatingsoicanreadfanfics



Series: Mirror Story and oneshots [1]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Burnout - Freeform, But also, Dwarven Ones | Soulmates, Emotionally Constipated Thorin, Erebor, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Magic Mirrors, Mental Breakdown, Reader-Insert, Soulmates, Thorin Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:55:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28524327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/procrastinatingsoicanreadfanfics/pseuds/procrastinatingsoicanreadfanfics
Summary: When dwarves come of age, they can see their One in the mirror, if they look at it at the same time.
Relationships: Thorin Oakenshield/Reader, Thorin Oakenshield/You
Series: Mirror Story and oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2117475
Comments: 25
Kudos: 66





	1. Mirror guy

**Author's Note:**

> Time passes differently in this world and in Middle Earth, so the reader sees young Thorin and older Thorin.  
> y/h/t: your home town y/h/c: your home country

The first time you saw him had been shortly after turning 18. You had just come home from school and you were brushing your hair when you looked in the mirror. That was when you saw him. Black hair, blue eyes and a weird kind of robe, one that would be considered medieval. Thinking you were just tired, you rubbed your eyes and looked in the mirror again. The man was still there, staring back at you. While you looked concerned and slightly friightened, he looked happy? Scared, you looked away and decided not to tell anyone for now.

For a while, nothing happened and you brushed the mirror-man off as a one time thing. Maybe you had just been overly tired. You hadn´t seen anything else out of the ordinary after all. One night, you had just gotten out of the shower and were waiting for the mirror to defog. You wrapped your towel around you and decided to get your skincare products, when you saw him again. He was staring down at you, seemingly concentrating on your face when he swung his right arm down, bringing a hammer with it. The moment lasted only a split second, but it was enough for you to screech a bit from getting frightened. What was he doing? Was he trying to kill you?

You considered seeing a therapist, but then again, it had only happened twice and the second time barely lasted more than a second.

The next few months, your life went downhill. You found out your boyfriend was cheating on you and when you failed finals, you had a breakdown. Diagnosis: Burnout. The therapist had ordered you to get a break and your parents shipped you off to vacation. The only problem was that you didn´t want to rest. You wantd to finish the fucking finals! Succesfully this time. So while everyone else at your hotel was enjoying the sun and getting a tan, you were inside, curtains drawn, studying, crying over your ex and life in general.

The hotel room didn´t exactly have a desk, but the vanity would have to do just fine. You had studied for some time when you looked up, exhausted. The mirror-man stared back. He too, looked absolutely exhausted. His undereyes were matching yours and he looked like he hadn´t eaten in days. Fuck it, you thought. If I´m delirious, I might just get to know my demons.

You flipped your notebook to the next page and wrote "Who are you?"

When he turned away, the man dissappeared, but he shortly reappeared, paper and quill in hand. Wait a quill? You hadn´t exactly expected to be traumatized from history lessons.

"My name is Thorin. Who are you?" he wrote

"I´m y/n." you wrote "Are you alright?" a little empathy couldn´t hurt.

"No." he wrote back

"Can you get a bit more specific?" when the man read that, he looked kinda pissed. Whatever, you couldn´t handle hallucinations that also were a prick right now.

"I just lost my home and my grandfather is going crazy."

"Damn that sucks."

"You speak in strange tongues. Where are you from?"

"Y/h/t"

"I have never heard of that place. Where exactly is it?"

"Y/h/c"

"That place is also unknown to me."

"Where are you from then?"

"Erebor"

"Pretty sure that place doesn´t exist."

"Are you trying to insult me? Just because Erebor was burned down by Smaug, doesn´t mean it doesn´t exist."

"I didn´t mean it that way. Hate to break it to you, but Erebor´s a fictional place, in a fictional world."

"I will not be insulted by someone even if they are my One." Thorin wrote angrily, before turning away.

What a dick.


	2. Moria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thorin and you actually get to know each other

It had been a few months since the "fight" with Thorin. You had seen him once or twice since then but he´d always turned away. Today, you were just finishing off your makeup when he reappeared. This time, he didn´t turn away. He looked worse than last time. In fact he looked absolutely crestfallen and defeated. His eyes were rimmed with red and he had puffy undereyebags. There was a healing cut on his forehead and the way he looked at you told you that he had no energy left to turn away.

"What happened?" you hadn´t intended to say it out loud. He looked up suddenly. It had never occured to you that this Thorin would react to sound from your side.

"Why do you care? It´s not like you take me seriously, in fact you seem to think that I´m not real." Thorin´s voice surprised you. It was deep, a baritone-like voice that sounded melodious and unlike anything else you had ever heard.

"Mirrors aren´t supposed to come with talking men." you said

"I´m a dwarf and even a human like you should know about Dwarven Ones. It is our worst-kept secret."

"I don´t think I understand."

"Every dwarf in Middle Earth-"

"Wait Middle Earth?"

"Yes Middle Earth. Where else would we be?"

"On planet Earth, in the Milky Way."

"I have never heard of this Earth nor the Milky Way before."

"I haven´t heard of Middle Earth either. So what about these Ones?"

"Mahal the Maker created a One for some dwarves. Dwarves only fall in love once and when they do, they fall hard. It is said that when dwarves come of age, they can see their One in a mirror, if it looks into it at the same time. But you are human and not from Middle Earth. How is this possible?"

"I don´t know. I can´t believe that I actually believe YOU. I thought I was going crazy." Thorin chuckled. It was a nice sound. You had never seen him do anything else than put on his brooding behaviour. This was definitly a nice change. "So what happened to you? I don´t mean to be rude but you look terrible." you said

"The battle of Moria. After we lost our home to Smaug the Terrible, a great dragon, we tried to reclaim Moria but the Orcs were already here. We battled them and even though we won, it was no great victory. I lost my grandfather and we are searching for my father but he has dissapeared wothout a trace."

"I am so sorry Thorin, truly. I can´t imagine what you feel like right now."

"It´s alright. I do believe our worlds are very different."

"You seem to be right. I would like to get to know you Thorin. Until the next time we meet."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I´m sorry this is so short, I´ll try to update soon.


	3. The Blue Mountains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thorin becomes king and settles down in the Blue Mountains together with his people.

In the next few months, you and Thorin didn´t see each other a lot. You knew that they were travelling and due to the time period he lived in, not many mirrors were available. You had to admit, you did miss him alot. Maybe it was because he was the only one who didn´t judge you, but you had a creeping feeling that it was more than that.

Today was one of those days where you had absolutely nothing to do and your boredom was almost killing you. So you decided to put on some music and stare into the mirror. Your past self would be absolutely confused on why you would stare into a mirror but thanks to the pandemic, you didn´t exactly have that much on your schedule. 

Today seemed to be your lucky day. You had just waited about five minutes when Thorin appeared in the mirror. 

"Good Morning, amrâlimê." Thorin said, smiling

"Hello Thorin, do you feel the need to tell me the meaning of that word today?" you asked. Thorin had started using it soon after the Battle of Moria when the two of you had begun speaking more frequently. You liked how it sounded and you were sure that it wasn´t an insult but you still wanted to know what exactly it meant.

"I´ll tell you someday." he chuckled. He seemed to be in a good mood today. Normally, he would be a bit grumpy and would become more open after the two of you had talked but today was apparently an especially good day.

"What´s got you in such a good mood?" you asked

"My people see me as king, I´m their leader now. I feel honored to be trusted with such responsibility. I will hold court in the Blue Mountains from now on." Thorin replied

"I´m happy for you, just don´t work yourself to the bone. You have a tendency to worry too much Thorin. Try to see the good things in life too." what you said was true. After the Battle of Moria, he had often stayed up all night, deciding on what to do next, where to go and how to get by for the month.

"I´ll try. I´ve long left behind that part of my life and I am sorry for neglegting you so. It was not fair." after the Battle of Moria, the two of you had gotten on more friendly terms, but your talks had been very short. More often than not, Thorin would leave, explaining that he had a meeting or needed to go work. You had been fine with that, but it was lonely.

"You are forgiven." you said in a mocking tone. "How´s Dís?" you asked.

"Alright. She´s pregnant again."

"AND YOU CHOSE TO NOT TELL ME UNTIL I ASKED?????" you yelled 

"I mean I didn´t think it would be that important."

"Not important? That´s great news. Give her my congratulations. I really wish I could meet her." you sighed. According to Thorin, she was super strong and independent, a BAMF basically.

"I hope you don´t or otherwise my majesticness may be undermined by the two of you calling me out on my bullshit." Thorin replied. Over the course of time, he had started using some of your modern-day expressions and when you told him that he always looked majestic, it became a joke between the two of you.

You talked for a bit, until Thorin had to say goodbye due to a council meeting. When he was gone, you felt the ever-present feeling of longing return. It had begun after you had grown closer and now, whenever you weren´t talking to him, there was a pang in your chest. Thorin said it had to do something with Ones and that it would stop if you met him, but for now it would probably stay. How would you meet someone who was in a completely different world. That was what made you sad. Talking to Thorin was one of your favorite things to do, but the knowledge that you would never meet him weighed heavy on you. Maybe fate would make it happen one day...


	4. Fíli and Kíli

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Thorin talk after Víli´s death and his struggles with raising Fíli and Kíli

"I have bad news." Thorin sighed. You had been excited to see him again but the look on his face was a grave one, similar to the one after Moria. "My sisters husband Víli is dead."

You weren´t an expert on dwarves but you knew that the death of a One meant that the partner left behind would isolate themselves from everything, even their own children.

"I´m so sorry. Give Dís my condolences. Thorin, please make sure that Fíli and Kíli are taken care of." you replied

"I will raise them myself if I have to, which is very likely. I fear that I won´t be good for them."

"I know this will sound cheesy, but just be yourself. I mean the person you are when you are with me. I don´t know much about raising dwarves but it can´t be that different from other children. They need someone to love or nurture them. Or at least that´s what my mother always said." you told him.

He smiled at that. "I´ll try. I must raise them to be my heirs too, it looks like we aren´t going to meet anytime soon. The last few days were a bit chaotic but they are sweet pebbles. Fíli is old enough to learn how to fight too." Thorin added

"Just don´t go to hard on them. I know you have your expectations but you have to take care of them aswell. They basically just lost both of their parents and you have always been quite taxing on yourself." you tried to remind him of that everytime you saw him but judging from the grey strands in his hair, he hadn´t stopped.

"Everytime I have to help someone, I realize that they have some complex life of their own and that I will never fully understand them. How can I help my nephews if I don´t comprehend them fully?" Thorins sounded exasperated. Though he had been stressed over situations in his rulership quite a few times, this really seemed to be hard on him.

"Sonder." you said

"What?"

"The realization that everyone around you has their own complex lives. You mustn´t understand your nnephews and everything about them to love and raise them. I am sure you too have secrets that no one knows."

"Maybe." Thorin replied, "I am still scared though." he admitted "How can I be strong for them if I am scared?"

"You know, being brave is all about remaining calm in the face of fear and doing the right thing, even if it scares you. I think you would regret abandoning your nephews more than helping them. Besides, you are a great person, one of the best I know. You put the greater good infront of your own and you won´t hesitate to do the right thing. You worry too much."

"The way you reassure me y/n, it helps me so much. I wish you were here so I could ask you for your council. You always say such wise things, I love that about you."

Your heart fluttered a bit at Thorin´s praise, which he normally offered very sparingly. "It´s probably because I read so much."

"Then you keep the wisest information in your heart, which is a knowledgeable act in itself."

You snorted. "You make me sound super smart."

"I don´t think you realize how much I truly care about you y/n. You are my One and though we have never met, I love you so much. You are wise beyound your years, beautiful and selfless."

"You make me sound like a saint."

"To me, you are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh fancy words... Do y´all want a sad or a happy ending?


	5. Hiraeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ending to this short story! Don´t worry it´s a happy ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes I got the chapter name from tiktok...  
> Hiraeth: A homesickness for a home that never was or that you can never return to

A familiar face flashed across the puddle at the bus stop. Thorin! You hadn´t seen him in ages, not since he and the company had left Rivendell. You had hoped to talk to him soon. In Rivendell, he had told you everything about the requirements for entering the mountain. He had to either be inside by now or he would´ve failed the quest. You took the flash of an image for a good sign and continued on with your day, hoping to speak to him later this evening.

That evening you were staring at your mirror, hoping to talk to Thorin, but he never showed up. Maybe your imagination had been playing tricks on your mind or maybe he simply didn´t have time for you. You sighed and went to bed.

Your dreams were strange and full of terrors that night. You saw Thorin, surrounded by mountains of gold, whispering to himself. He looked greedy, even hungry and never seemed satisfied. You saw him shout at someone you took for another dwarf. Saw him threatening another creature, holding him over a wall. He was behaving so unlike himself and it terrified you. This was not the Thorin you knew. Your dream got darker and darker. There was a battle and you saw two other dwarves die. They looked like Fíli and Kíli, based on Thorins descriptions. Then you saw him fight a tall, white monster on a hill. He was shouting at it, telling the thing that it wouldn´t get a single coin of his gold. And then, it killed him.

You woke with a start, breathing heavily. Slowly, you got out of bed and went into the bathroom. You washed your face and tried to calm down but the images from that battle still flashed across your mind. It was so brutal. You had never been a fan of gore and blood and had never watched any movies in that direction but somehow your brain had made it look so realistic. That night, you tried to go back to sleep for hours on end and when you finally fell asleep, the images of your first dream kept haunting you.

The next morning, you got dressed and headed of to work. You were so distracted that you forgot your wallet and had to head back home to get it. You were about to head out again when you saw something, or rather someone, out of the corner of your eye. 

You turned and the moment you made eyecontact with them, everything around you seemed to dissapear.

"Thorin? Am I still dreaming?" you asked, pinching yourself in the arm. You didn´t need to have another nightmare.

"I am not my grandfather." he whispered to himself

"What?"

"I am not my grandfather."

"No of course not. No offense, but from what you told me, your grandad´s a greedy, insane dick with a stick up his ass."

Thorin looked away.

"You got the goldsickness thing?"

He stared at you and for a moment he seemed to be enraged by this notion until you saw the realization dawn on him. "Yes." there was such shame in his voice that you physically cringed

"It´s never too late to make things right."

"Will you help me?" it was more of a plea than a question but you probably woud´ve tried to help him without him asking at all.

"Of course."

He walked toward you and extended his hand. You still weren´t sure if this was a dream, you had never been able to touch him or even get close to him. When your hands connected, you almost expected to feel a spark or something else in that cheesy direction but all you felt was his hand holding yours. It was warm and calloused, from hard labour no doubt, but it was comforting all the same.

Suddenly, the world around you seemed to reappear but it wasn´t your apartment. It was a throne room? It looked like what Thorin had described to be Erebor. The grand hall was connected to the rest of the mountain with the green stone that was so prominent everywhere else and statues of old dwarven kings were lining the sides. It was incredibly large and detailed and you wanted to take it all in, but were rudely interrupted by a certain someone.

"Your hands are cold."

"Seriously? The first thing you say after we actually meet."

"Forgive me." Thorin laughed and it was the same laugh he had laughed since you had first met. It fit him, but he did it so seldomly.

"Are you okay now?"

"Yes, thanks to you." he smiled only to look at you in horror

"Do I have something on my face?"

"The battle! Stay here, I´ll come back to you but now I must go, for I have broken my word and must repair my reputation, or atleast I must attempt to do so."

"O-Okay?"

Thorin squeezed your hand and made his way out of the throne room, leaving you alone to think. There was a battle. It felt like someone poured a bucket of cold water over you when you realized. This was exactly like your dream. By now, you were sure you were in Erebor. So much crazy shit had happened that you didn´t doubt it and you didn´t doubt that your dream wouldn´t come true either.

Trying to remember Thorins stories about Erebor, you looked for the weapons chamber and eventually found it too. You grabbed some fairly sharp looking knives and made your way to the front gate.

After getting lost twice, you finally found it and ran outside without hesitation. You had expected the looks of the battle but you hadn´t expected the smell. It smelt like burning bodies and blood and something else that you couldn´t quite define.

Scared out of your mind you ran forward, to the hill you had seen. You tried to dodge everything as well as you could and blindly hacked at everything that came your way. You almost threw up on the spot when a spray of blood hit you but kept going.

You made it to the top of the mountain and awaited the arrival of Thorin.

"Who´s this?" a dwarf asked

"What are you doing here y/n?"

"Ravenhill is a trap." you were still catching your breath but Thorin nodded.

After that, the battle was over fairly quickly. After the eagles came, Thorin fought an already injured Azog and defeated him, without dying himself. When it was all over, you ran onto the ice.

"You´re still alive." you hugged him

"Thanks to you." he replied

He looked at you and suddenly his lips were on yours. The kiss was desperate, full of all the time you had only seen each other occasionally and the fear of losing each other again, but it was perfect.

Hiraeth. When you had heard that word, it had been your way of thinking about Thorin. Now, you had returned to him. Your hiraeth could be a true home now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was it, feel free to check out my other stuff


End file.
